


Oh Mama, Don't Know What This Is

by Miss_Mustache



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Concerned Shiro (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, I couldn't help myself, I had to throw in klance at the end, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance Has Water Powers (Voltron), M/M, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Siren Lance (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29735343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Mustache/pseuds/Miss_Mustache
Summary: Songfic inspired by Clean Bandit's Mama---Lance and his family aren't exactly what society would deem normal. In fact, they aren't even human, they're sirens. This never really bothered Lance, it was his little family's secret, it was his own world he could go home to and cherish. All he really needed was his family, he could be his true self around them, but he was still scared. His sister rejected them and ran away when he was twelve. The next time he saw her she was dead. From that point on there was always a part of him that hated being a siren. Still, it was alright, he had his family with him. Even after he moved to the Garrison, he could visit them. He thought he could get through anything if he had them with him, and maybe he could, but now he's gone. Stuck in space, his body is starting to change and he has no one to help him. He has never been more alone.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Allura & Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance & Shiro (Voltron), Lance & Voltron Paladins
Comments: 4
Kudos: 104





	Oh Mama, Don't Know What This Is

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhhhhhhh my first completed fic. I'm sorry if the quality isn't great, I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible.

_ Oh mama, don't know what this is _

* * *

Lance was a siren. That was cool in theory, but it had some major drawbacks, one of those being the multiple puberties. Well technically it wasn't puberty, but Lance thought it was easier to say it was. Sirens went through the same one as humans in the early teenage years, and then at the age of 18, they went through a much more sudden one. On the day of their 18th birthday and the day before, they would experience sudden changes to their siren form; their tails would become longer, more powerful. Their features would become more prominent, such as the gills on his neck becoming more noticeable and his ears gaining more scales. Their human sides usually remain the same. Another part of the metamorphosis, though this happened in the week before the birthday, was that the sirens would gain the ability to manipulate water to some extent. A select few sirens can control water before 18, but to a much weaker scale. The growth would simply amplify them.  
  
As much as Lance was looking forward to being considered an adult and the perks that came with it, it couldn't have come at a worse time. This was due to the fact that he was currently in space and the people he was with had no idea what he was. He couldn't exactly hide it from them, as his mamá had told him to stay in siren form for those two days. No one knew what would happen if he didn't, and he didn't really want to find out.  
  
It was currently the 21st of July, so he had an exact week till his birthday and six days till he needed to hide in his room. It was fine. He'd get through it, and no one would have to know. He'd be safe, and the others wouldn't find out he was a freak. It'd be fine.  
  
And so the week began, slowly counting down the days. Lance knew that his water would be hard to control at the moment because you couldn't exactly suddenly become stronger and know how to control it. That wasn't how it worked. But it'd be fine, no one would know. All he had to do was avoid water to be safe.  
  
It turns out that was easier said than done. Not even half an hour after his internal pep talk, Pidge had told him he was on washing up duty for the day. He picked up the washing gloves and slid them on, humming quietly a Spanish song as the others chatted around the couch.  
"Pidgey, I don't think I can do the washing up today," Lance called out sheepishly as they glanced up from their laptop.  
Their brows furrowed. "Why can't you do it? It's meant to be your turn today. "  
"Ah, my eczema is acting up today. I'm wearing gloves, but it's still really itchy."  
It wasn't a complete lie, he did sometimes have eczema, it was just an incredibly mild case. Regardless, Pidge seemed to buy it and nodded.  
"Alright, Keith, your turn."  
"What? Why me?"  
Lance tuned their squabbling out and pried the rubber gloves off, staring shakily into the sink. He hadn't meant to cause a fuss; he would've done it and just hoped for the best, but the water refused to touch him and moved out of the way, avoiding him. It was supposed to be the other way round.  
  
Humming, he slid down onto the couch next to Hunk and flicked through one of the magazines on the coffee table.  
"So, seeing as we're all here, why don't we get to know each other some more? Talk about the things waiting for us back on Earth."  
Lance sighed. Shiro was always one for team bonding exercises, even though they had been in space together for nearly a year. Pidge ignored Shiro and continued tapping on their laptop, though Hunk nodded.  
"Yeah, sure. Lance, buddy, why don't you go first?"  
Lance paused. He would never give up an excuse to gush about his family, he loved them all so much.  
"Well, as you already know, there's my mamá, my papá and my five older siblings." Fiddling with his fingers, he let out a smile at the thought of them.  
"Oh, I thought you had four siblings?"  
"Oh right, haha, yeah."  
  
Hunk hadn't meant to upset Lance - he probably didn't even know he had. Still, Lance paused and thought back to his siblings. Marco, Luis, Veronica, Rachel, and well, Isabel. It'd technically be six if he included Lisa, his sister in law. A feeling of hurt panged through his chest. They never talked about Isabel anymore; it was still a sore topic at home.  
  
Isabel was Lance's twin sister. She was older by two minutes, but Lance always thought it shouldn't count. He was taller than her anyway - or at least had been. When they were both twelve, she had told her best friends about what they were, about who they were. She thought she could trust them. Instead, they turned on her. They bullied her relentlessly till she thought she was a monster. No one else knew about it. One day she had come home from school, and she had broken down. She had lashed out at them when they asked what was wrong, screaming about how she hated them, and that they were all disgusting monsters. She told them she couldn't stand to look at them, and she left. Lance didn't see her again.  
  
A year later, Lance had gone for a walk on his own along the beach. It was further than he usually went, but he wasn't particularly worried. He was thirteen now, he was old enough to know what he was doing. And so, he had run along the waves as they drifted in, till he saw a mangled heap up ahead. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it was wrapped up in a net. As he approached, he gagged at the smell and choked out a sob at the sight. Wrapped in the net, was Isabel. No, that wasn't his sister. Isabel was cheerful and bubbly, so full of life and movement, she was never this still and lifeless. It couldn't be her, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew deep down that it was her. The end of a harpoon gun was embedded in her side, with a pile of brown around her. Lance didn't want to know how long she'd been there.  
  
The image now burned into his mind, he stepped back and started sobbing as he ran back home, reaching the beach house in a dishevelled state.  
"Lance, mi amor, what's wrong?" His mamá kneeled next to him, gently prying his hands from his face.  
"Mamá! Isabel, she's," Lance choked on his tears, "She's dead."  
"Oh, no, Lance," she softly consoled the weeping boy, "We don't know that, don't lose hope."  
"No! You don't understand! She's dead, I saw her."  
At this, his mamá froze, along with Luis and Marco who had also been in the room.  
"Lance, cariño, take me to where you saw her."  
So, he took her by the hand and took her to the heap in the net, with Luis and Marco trailing silently behind. Lance stood back, refusing to look as he listened to his brothers and mamá let out a sob.  
  
They had gone home and reported the news to the family; everyone was devastated. The next day they held a funeral for her. Lance couldn't remember the name Isabel ever being mentioned in the household again. It frustrated Lance to no ends. After the first month or so, it was as if Isabel had never existed, and he hated them for it. He felt so alone.  
  
"Lance?"  
"Hm?"  
"You zoned out bud."  
Lance mumbled out an apology as Hunk and Shiro stared intensely at him.  
"I don't think I'm feeling so good, I'm going to go back to my room."  
They gave him a nod of acknowledgement and a slight look of concern, before looking away and allowing Lance to leave.

* * *

_I see my body in a different light_

_As if I woke up in a different life_

* * *

The team had decided to take a day off. It had been getting a lot warmer in the castle in the past couple of days, so Shiro thought they could have a beach day. Unfortunately, though, there weren't any planets near enough or safe enough that resembled a beach, so they had to make do with the castle's pool. Still, everyone seemed excited enough.

The pool itself was fairly large and had more than enough space for the five of them, seven if Allura and Coran decided to come. It had large, grey pillars lining each side, with bright blue light escaping the slits. The pool itself was mainly rectangular, with some circular areas at the shallow end to allow people to lounge. Lance thought the water looked blue.

He soon arrived at the pool, noting everyone else was already there. Keith and Pidge were sitting on the edge of the pool, legs in the water. Pidge had their laptop with them, and he couldn't help but think that was a bad idea, they didn't seem bothered, though. Hunk was lying in a pool chair whilst Shiro swam lengths in the pool. Lance snorted, of course Shiro would still be using this as an excuse to exercise.

Soon, the others noticed his presence and put their things to the side, getting into the pool. Hunk cannonballed, whilst Keith slid in from the side and Pidge used the ladder. Lance peered into the water, reluctant to get in. The others found this odd, Lance usually loved the pool. After dipping a leg in, he eventually decided to risk it and smoothly slid himself into the water.

It was a relief the water wasn't doing the same as when he tried to wash the dishes. He couldn't imagine falling to the bottom of the empty pool would be particularly comfortable, not to mention he would be completely exposed. Much to Lance's delight, though, the water seemed to be reacting normally today. Grinning, he dived underwater. It felt like he was gliding through the water, and he loved it. He swam back up and broke the surface, panting slightly.

Shit. Looking around, he realised he was far. He had nearly swum the entire lap when he shouldn't have been able to make it passed the first pillar. His eyes flickered around to the others. Pidge and Hunk were passing a beach ball to one another, and Keith was simply floating on his back. Shiro was looking at Lance mildly confused, but he seemed to shake it off and continue his laps.

Lance sunk down against the pool wall, leaving only his eyes and up out of water. He stared down at the rippling water, sighing gently. This wasn't meant to happen; he just wanted to have a fun day with his friends. This wouldn't happen if only he were normal, if he weren't some disgusting monster.

A wave of water crashed into him and he spluttered out water. His eyes widened as he realised the pool was making angry waves, knocking into the others as well as him.

"Since when is there a wave machine in the pool?" Shiro asked. He had been standing in the shallow end, so the waves didn't really affect him.

Keith, on the other hand, had been interrupted from his drifting and knocked over, and was yelling for it to be turned off. Lance knew, though. He had been in the pool dozens of times, there was no wave machine. It was him; he was the one causing the waves, he was the one ruining everyone's fun.

Biting back tears, Lance slid back out of the pool and pulled his knees against his chest. The waves quickly stopped and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Now all he could do was watch the others have fun without him. Hunk, though, noticed Lance was alone and gently swam over.

"Hey, Lance? You okay?"

He hummed in response, giving Hunk a weak smile. Hunk gently put his hand on Lance's shoulder, giving him a gentle grin, before swimming back to Pidge.

He felt alone again.

* * *

_Feels like I'm walking with my heart on fire_

* * *

Lance refused to let his siren self get the better of him this week. He might not have been able to swim with the team, but he was sure as hell going to go swimming on his own. He was wearing navy swim shorts that had white swirls covering them. They reminded him of the sea. It didn't really matter though, as Lance was planning on taking them off as soon as he could. It had been too long since he was able to swim in his siren form.

Soon arriving at the pool, he looked around and made sure the coast was clear, before prying off the shorts. Diving in, he transformed mid-air and landed in the water gracefully. Lance had always loved how he looked. It wasn't really an arrogant thing; he was just self-aware. He knew his niece and nephew would gaze enviously at his tail when they went swimming, and he didn't blame them. His tail was made up of shimmering, blue scales that trailed up his sides before fading into skin. Large fins sprouted from his back and the sides of his tail, along with scaly fins that extended the length of his human ears. There were gills on either side of his neck, but they weren't very noticeable.

Oh, how Lance had missed this, missed the feeling of gliding through the water like a bullet. Of course, the pool couldn't possibly compare to the feeling of swimming in the ocean, but this was the best he would get and that was okay. Still, Lance couldn't wait for the day when he got to go swimming with his family again. He sank to the bottom of the pool, lying on his back and smiling at the thought of seeing them all again.

As he floated back up, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Letting out a string of curse words, he transformed back and yanked on his swim shorts. He knew he wasn't meant to transform so quickly, it could lead to a whole range of problems, but he didn't have much choice. At least there weren't any lone scales left over. Scrambling out of the pool, he quickly sat onto a lounge chair and looked expectantly towards the doors.

Pidge entered and locked eyes with Lance.

"Oh, Lance, there you are. Hunk wants you to try out the new recipe he's making."

They adjusted their glasses, before glancing around the room.

"Are you in here alone?"

Lance hummed, looking at his toes.

Pidge snorted, "I hope you're not doing some freaky shit. But yeah, anyway, the food should be ready soon so go as soon as you can. I'm not coming to get you again."

With that, Pidge left and continued tapping on their phone.

Lance sat back down by the pool, bringing his knees to his chest. Pidge was right, this was freakish, he was a freak. He shook his head; he knew he shouldn't think like that. In an attempt to clear his mind, he went back to the pool and slid in, unexpectedly tumbling to the bottom. Whimpering in pain, he looked down at his ankle which he had landed on weirdly. It wasn't sprained, it just really hurt. He reluctantly looked up and slumped against the pool wall, curling into a ball. The water was avoiding him again and had formed a large air bubble around where he was sat. As he choked out a sob, the pool's water split apart. It separated into large bubbles that floated around the room.

Lance looked up through blurry eyes. At first, he thought it looked beautiful, the way the water danced across the room, shimmering in the glow from the pillars. Those thoughts quickly disappeared, though. This wasn't normal, normal people couldn't do this. Lance could only do this because he was a monster. He was disgusting. He was a freak. He was alone.

* * *

_Somebody pass me the water_

_Cause I'm burning_

* * *

"Alright team, let's go in. Carefully now, avoid as much contact with the galra as possible. "

Lance was screwed. He had a careful plan, avoid water for the week, and then on his birthday and the day before he'd lock himself in his room. It would've worked, maybe raise some questions but it would've worked. Instead, Pidge found intel on where their brother and dad could be, and they chose the 27th of July to do it. As in the day Lance had to stay in siren form, or who knows what would happen.

Even if there wasn't the whole issue of sudden growths, it was Isabel's birthday. He wasn't really in the mood to go out on a mission. She would've turned eighteen today, and they would've spent three days in the ocean together. It was meant to be their special days. Instead, she was buried in the ocean somewhere and a fisherman had her blood on his hands.

He had desperately tried to convince them to change the date, and they had been willing, but Lance couldn't give a good reason and they thought it was the best date to do it, so they ignored him. All the begging had done was annoy the others, Pidge thought he was just being lazy and didn't care about them finding their family, and that had hurt.

And so, the fateful day came and Lance was dreading it. He didn't know what would happen if he had one of his growths in human form, no one knew, and he didn't particularly want to find out. Still, Lance could be lucky, his growths could happen later in the day.

Deep down he knew he was never that lucky.

That brought him back to now. They had taken the red and green lion, the red to provide a distraction if needed, and the green to infiltrate the base using the cloaking ability. Keith would stay in red, whilst the other paladins would go with green. Shiro would stay with the lion whilst the others went to gather the information. It would go smoothly, just in and out.

Again, Lance knew he was never that lucky.

The lion had just landed, and Lance, Hunk and Pidge exited. After confirming the coast was clear, they cautiously walked down one of the many hallways of the ship. Everything had a faint purple glow, and the halls all seemed identical. It was infuriating.

"I've downloaded a map of where we need to go," Pidge announced over the coms. "Continue forward, second hallway on our right and then continue forward." The others nodded, and they continued down the hall. The halls were mostly unoccupied, apart from the lone galra soldier that was taken out with ease. They started to move quicker, though, as a larger group of them started approaching.

Lance could see the door they needed to go through when a burning pain overwhelmed him. Collapsing to the floor, he let out a shaky sob as he curled in on himself. Everything felt so hot. _It hurts so much._

Around him, he heard Pidge curse as they and Hunk shot off the galra troop, shielding Lance. As soon as the last soldier dropped, Hunk kneeled frantically next to his fallen friend.

"Lance, buddy, talk to me."

He carefully lifted Lance into his arms and checked him over for any visible wounds. Finding none, he held on tighter and stood up.

"We need to take Lance and get him to a healing pod. I can't see anything but somethings clearly wrong. "

Pidge nodded and carefully cut down anyone standing in their way.

Quickly enough, they arrived back at the green lion, and Hunk gently placed Lance on the floor as he whimpered loudly. Shiro pressed his human hand against the boy's forehead and cursed under his breath.

"He's boiling, we need to get him to the med-bay as soon as we can."

The trip back to the castle went smoothly, with Lance fading in and out of consciousness. Shiro carefully picked the boy up and ran over to the pods. Coran, Keith and Allura were already there, chatting impatiently to find out what was going on but pausing when they heard the whimpers. He was placed onto a table as Coran took off his armour. As he started to try to remove the undergarments, Lance violently pushed away, falling onto the floor.

"Lance?"

"Lance, what's wrong?"

"Can you hear us?"

All the voices seemed to blur into one as Lance frantically scrambled away. Everything was too _loud_ and _bright_ , and everything _hurt_. All he could see was Shiro reaching down and picking him up, carrying him towards the pods. Alarm bells went off in Lance's head. If he was stuck in the pod for who knows how long, it could cause some serious problems. He struggled against Shiro, but he was too strong. Not knowing what else to do, Lance weakly elbowed him in the face. Shiro loosened his grip considerably, most likely out of shock. Either way, Lance managed to force his way out and left the room as fast as he could. If he slammed into a wall a couple of times, nobody saw.

Finally reaching his room, he dragged himself in before slamming the door shut and locking it. Squinting through the blurred lights, he locked eyes onto his wardrobe and pushed it in front of the door before running to the bathroom and ripping his undergarments off. He flopped into the bath and transformed, panting heavily with the pain. As soon as he had transformed, he felt instant relief. The pain seemed to subside, it was still there but considerably less so.

As the room around him stopped spinning, he began to run the tap and thought about what had just happened.

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

_Cause a little bit turned into a lot_

_There's no way I'd be turning the feeling off_

* * *

It had now been 6 hours since Lance had locked himself in his room. It was alright, for the most part. There were still moments of excruciating pain, but none of it was nearly as bad as before. That was all he could really ask for. He had shed a bunch of scales though, and small piles had been created across the floor.

The others had tried to talk to him, but Lance had no choice but to ignore them. There had been a mixture of responses. Some were angry, some were gentle and then turned angry, others were purely gentle. At the core of it, though, they were all worried. They didn't know why Lance had locked himself in his room. The last thing they had seen was him in crippling pain before he had simply run away.

The first person to come had been Shiro, who had taken the gentle approach before turning stern. He told Lance how worried they all were and how they just wanted to know how to help him. Lance had stayed silent, though, which seemed to infuriate him, as he repeated what he had already said in a harsher tone. Lance couldn't bring himself to speak without telling them or breaking down. He hated the idea of upsetting them. Darn hormones.

The next person had been Keith, surprisingly. He had tried to be gentle, but it was in a very Keith way, so not very gentle at all. Still, Lance appreciated the gesture.

After that, it was Allura, who came purely to say he was being childish and dividing himself from the team. It stung a little, knowing she only really cared about Voltron.

And then after that, it was Hunk. Hunk always knew what to say - he was a cinnamon roll. Instead of trying to get an answer out of him, he comforted him and told him it was okay, and that he hoped Lance was alright. That had finally gotten something out of Lance and he quietly told Hunk he was alright, but he couldn't come out. He had been understanding and left Lance alone soon after.

Pidge was the last person to come. They had yelled at Lance for worrying them, and had angrily told Lance they jeopardized the mission for no reason. Their words hurt, but Lance couldn't exactly say anything.

One thing Lance did regret, was not bringing anything to entertain himself with. He had been lying there for hours without anything to do. His thoughts kept flickering back to Isabel's body and he broke down sobbing at the thought. In a desperate attempt to clear his mind, he thought back to his siblings' 18th birthdays. Rachel was the most recent. She had been fairly cranky, and she was in pain for a while, but their family stayed with her the entire time. The days were spent in a beautiful cove that she had picked out a couple of days before, and the others had brought her food and kept her company.

Lance had been planning to stay by the coral reef that wasn't too far from their home. He thought that if he had to be there for two days he'd at least like to stay with the fish, and his mamá told him it was a wonderful idea. A pang of homesickness came back, he had been looking forward to spending the two days in the sea. His family usually told him not to bother the coral reefs so he wasn't able to go often. Spending entire days in the ocean was also a rare treat, as they'd usually find a place to rest in human form if they could.

Before that, it had been Veronica's birthday. She chose to spend it at home, arguing that she could still be in siren form even if she was out of water. Whilst their parents had disagreed initially, it was her choice at the end of the day so they reluctantly agreed. So, they binge-watched romcoms, ordered takeaway and ate ice cream for that weekend. Lance never really understood that. Of course, they could all stay in siren form out of water just fine, but he always felt so dry and weird when he did.

That had all been years ago, though. Isabel had been there for Rachel's birthday, and it wasn't long after that she had run away. Lance wondered how he hadn't noticed anything was wrong. Granted, he was twelve, but she had become a lot more reserved back then, and only spoke a fragment of what she used to. That was part of the reason Lance was so chatty and bubbly. After Isabel had gone, the house seemed empty. So, to fill the quiet, Lance became louder and more clownish. That being said, he knew he would never replace Isabel, and he didn't want to, but someone had to lift the others' spirits somehow.

A wave of exhaustion came over him, and he let out a big yawn. He shuffled around in the tub, attempting to get as comfortable as possible in the tub. Finally settling into one position, he let the darkness claim him for the night.

* * *

_Guess I'm everything that I thought that I was not_

* * *

"Alright, I've got this. Ninja style," Lance whispered to himself as he crept down the hallway.  
  
Today was finally the day of his birthday, and whilst he had told himself to stay in his room, there were only so many grumbles from his stomach he could take. And so here he was, creeping around the castle whilst desperately trying to avoid the others. He figured that seeing as he was already out of his room, he might as well grab some things to entertain himself for the day. So far his list contained:  
\- Ice cream, Lance's favourite comfort food  
\- Food goo, because unfortunately living off of ice cream was not the best idea.  
\- Salt, to try to replicate seawater  
\- Magazines  
\- Anything else that looked fun  
  
He had successfully obtained the magazines along with the castle mice until he remembered they could talk to Allura and he promptly, but politely, told them to leave.  
  
Quietly peeking around the door, Lance slid into the game room and scavenged around. There wasn't too much of interest, he couldn't exactly take the game console to his room as much as he wanted to. There was also an old monopoly that Pidge had found a while back at the Space Mall, but that wasn't something he could do alone, so he left it. Fishing through the box a little more, he found a Bop It! and hummed in delight. There was also a table tennis racket he found, with a ping pong ball attached on the end. He wasn't great at using it, but now was a time as good as any to practice.  
  
Lance continued around the castle for a while, carrying the things under his arm. A radio had been added to the collection, along with a small bundle of Spanish songs Pidge had downloaded onto a disc for him. Still, the pile was starting to get too large for him to carry, so he decided to bring the things back to his room and then quickly run to the kitchen.   
  
Desperately trying to not drop his collection, he kicked the door to the bedroom open. In the process, he dropped some of the CDs, and he cursed quietly, struggling to pick them up. He dumped the pile onto the bathroom floor and gave himself a quick lookover in the mirror. Wincing, he noticed the slight bags and puffiness of his eyes. With a quick splash of water on his face and a pat dry, Lance closed the door behind him and jogged over to the kitchen.  
  
Mindlessly pushing the door open, he froze as he realised everyone was in there. Keith was moping on the couch and Hunk and Pidge gossiped about something that Lance couldn't understand. Shiro, Coran and Allura were on the other side, discussing something to do with Voltron most likely. Lance took a deep breath. He could go back to his room and wait, but on the other hand, he was starving. Deciding to take his chances, he opened the door as quietly as possible and crept in. If he acted natural, they might not even realise he was there.  
  
In hindsight, that was a really stupid plan. Whilst the others didn't pay too much attention, Keith narrowed in on Lance like a hawk, making him shudder under the glare being sent his way. Still, Lance was foolishly hopeful and continued to grab the things he had come for. Having obtained the salt, he reached down into the freezer for the ice cream.  
"Lance?"  
He chuckled, _I'm in danger._  
  
Giving himself a mental slap, he looked up to see everyone staring at him. As hilarious as he was, now was not a good time for his brilliant sense of humour. His good mood from the joke quickly vanished, though, as he saw the sombre looks on those around him.  
"Haha, hi guys." Lance shot finger guns at them with an awkward smile but quickly brought them back when no one laughed. "Tough crowd." So what if he was trying to deflect the situation with humour?   
  
Everything went silent for a moment.  
"Lance? What the hell was that yesterday? "  
Lance winced at Keith's harsh tone. He shrugged lightly and grabbed the ice cream along with a spoon and bowl. Hunk looked puzzled at this.  
"Lance, why did you ignore us? We were worried sick about you."  
Figuring that responding would only lead to him spilling his guts, he shrugged again and walked over to a food goo tube. Everyone was watching him, and he shuffled uncomfortably under the attention. He didn't want to ignore them, they didn't deserve that. But, Lance knew he wouldn't be able to keep his big mouth shut, and that scared him more than anything.  
"Lance, buddy..?"  
Not expecting to hear Hunk's voice, he turned to face them and suddenly realised the tears that were pouring down his face. Wiping frantically at his eyes, he gave them a wonky grin and quickly ran out of the room before the others could stop him.

* * *

The group looked at the door where Lance had just left through, then glanced at each other with concern.  
Hunk stepped up, "Ice cream is Lance's comfort food, he usually only eats it when he's really upset."  
Everyone paused at this, trying to figure out what was going on.  
"Have we upset him somehow?" Allura asked.  
No one really knew how to answer.  
After a little bit of typing, Pidge looked up, adjusting their glasses, "It's the 28th of July today, does that mean anything?"  
Hunk froze upon hearing this and paled a little. "Oh god, I'm a horrible friend! It's his birthday today and I forgot."  
"No, it's not your fault Hunk, none of us remembered. What matters now is that we make it up to him."  
After hearing Shiro comfort him, Hunk calmed down a bit, and they set off on deciding how to fix it.

An hour later, they had composed a plan and set off. Hunk would be baking a birthday cake (or at least the closest alien equivalent) and anything else he could manage in time, along with Shiro's help. Keith and Pidge would cut out streamers and bunting, whilst Allura and Coran would be decorating. It didn't leave them much time, but with the six of them, they knew they could manage by the evening.

Several hours later, the ballroom was an array of blues and silvers. The lights had been dimmed and changed to a dark blue, and Pidge had hooked up the emergency alarms to their laptop to play music. They would've played Lance's Spanish songs, but they couldn't find them anywhere. On one side of the hall, there was a long table with the cake sat proudly in the middle. Hunk had also found the time to make cupcakes to put with them. The rest of the food was leftovers, but they hoped Lance wouldn't mind. Above the big table hung a large bunting reading 'Happy Birthday!' that Keith and Pidge had made from some spare blue paper found around the castle. They didn't have many options drink wise, but Coran had brought up some strange Altean alcohol on the condition that Pidge wouldn't drink any. On the other side of the room, they had pushed some couches against the wall, leaving an area to chill. The middle was left empty for dancing. Streamers in different shades of blue hung across the ceiling, along with some navy and silver balloons found at the Space Mall. All in all, the team were pleased with how they'd done.

Chatting excitedly, the group loudly made their way down the corridor to Lance's room. Shiro knocked firmly against the door.  
"Lance? Can you come out, please? We've got something to show you."  
A quiet voice mumbled out from the room. "I'm sorry, I can't."  
This time Keith responded. "Lance? Come on, this is important."  
This continued a couple of times, each time Lance refusing to leave. As much as they tried to hide it, they were all starting to feel disheartened. Keith glanced around the group and finally snapped.  
"Goddammit Lance, we're sorry we forgot your birthday, we're trying to make it up to you but we can't if you keep being so fucking stubborn."  
Another mumble came from the room, but it was too quiet for anyone to understand. Still, when the door didn't budge, they knew they had their answer. Keith scowled and stormed off, the others quickly following after, leaving only Allura and Shiro. They shared a look before Shiro leaned against the door.  
"You know, everyone tried really hard for this. We spent hours making everything perfect for you, and yet you won't even come out to see. I'm disappointed in you, Lance."

* * *

Lance listened as the footsteps outside his door slowly faded, and he let out a shaky sob. He'd managed to fuck everything up again. There was no way to explain why he had been acting so weirdly without revealing himself. Even if he did tell them why they would be disgusted at him. Either way, they would hate him. Not to mention Hunk would be disappointed in him, and quite likely angry. Back at the Garrison, Hunk had caught Lance playing with the water, and in a moment of panic, Lance had charmed him into forgetting. If Hunk found out about him, the charm would break and he would remember, and then he would hate him.

Holding back a sob, he reached a shaky hand to the radio and pressed in one of the discs, laying back as the music slowly began to play. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. How on earth was he meant to fix this?

* * *

_What do I do now,_

_Do with all of this?_

* * *

The team gathered around Lance's door again, watching as Shiro knocked against the door. After having angrily discussed Lance ignoring them, they realised there was probably something serious going on. Lance had never acted like this before. And so, they went to his room once more and knocked again. There was no response this time. They tried again, but there was still no response.  
"Lance?" Shiro called out, worry lacing his voice.  
"Lance, buddy, can you open up?" Hunk tried.  
No matter who asked, there was complete silence in response.  
Pidge raised their hand to silence the others, "I've got this." They pulled out their phone and tapped on it, before scanning it onto the lock. The system turned green and the others watched in a surprised silence. Pidge smirked at this and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. They each took turns trying to open the door, but something really heavy was blocking it. Shiro furrowed his brows at this. It was obvious Lance did not want them to come in at all, and that was worrying. He leaned against the door and started ramming into it. It didn't do much, but with each push, the door widened a little.

* * *

Lance woke to the sounds of banging on his door.  
"What the fuck," he whispered to himself, leaning out of the tub to try to look into his room. As he saw the door being forced open, he quickly tumbled out of the tub and forced himself to transform back. It was painful, but he didn't have much of a choice. Yanking on his jeans and wrestling on a shirt, he fell to the floor as the team entered his room one by one. They all looked a little confused seeing him blink up at them, but they didn't comment on it. The group shared a look before Shiro gently kneeled down next to him.  
"Hey, Lance, we need to talk."  
Lance's breath hitched, and he frantically glanced at the group. They were all looking at him, apart from Pidge who was picking something up. Oh, _oh shit_.  
"Lance?"  
He turned his attention back to Shiro and bit his lip nervously. "What do you want to talk about?"  
Hunk pulled Lance to his feet and they all looked at him.  
"You've been acting really strangely these past couple of days."  
"Oh, sorry, but I'm fine, really."   
Avoiding the gazes of the others, he tugged nervously on his sleeves. Shiro noticed this and gently grabbed his wrists.  
"Shiro..?"  
The older man glanced up at Lance with concern and slowly pulled his sleeves up. Lance froze, noticing a couple of scales that hadn't quite disappeared on his arms. They looked like they were on the brink of being shed. The others around him seemed confused by them but didn't comment as he pulled them off with a wince.

"We just want to help you, Lance. What's up?"  
Lance went silent for a moment, considering his options. On one hand, he could tell them the truth, but there was no way he was going to do that, or he could just deny anything was wrong, which they wouldn't believe.   
"I've just been feeling homesick. I'm sorry for worrying you."It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the full truth. The team seemed to buy it though, and kneeled around him, giving him sympathetic looks.

For the next hour, they stayed together in Lance's room, keeping him company. They chatted mindlessly about Earth and reminisced about the times they had spent together. It didn't solve any of his problems, but he certainly felt better than before. It was nice. The group had decided to celebrate his birthday tomorrow, as it was getting late. Goodnights were shared and Lance was once again alone in his room, but this time he didn't feel alone.

* * *

_All of these new emotions_

_I let them out in the open_

* * *

It was finally the 29th, meaning Lance was free to easily hide everything again. Well, for the most part. He eagerly hopped out of bed, pulling on a clean pair of trousers and a jacket. Yesterday they had decided to celebrate his birthday in the afternoon, and he couldn't wait.

Skipping over to the kitchen, he entered with a cheerful grin. Saying hello to the group who were sat around the table, he grabbed a bowl of food goo and sat next to Keith. They chatted loudly to each other and flicked goo at one another when they got too loud. All in all, it was a great start to the day.

As Lance scraped the remains of his bowl, Allura cleared her throat and stood up, gazing at the paladins around her.

"After the past couple of days, it has come to my attention that you aren't being fully honest with your fellow paladins. To be able to form Voltron, you can't have any secrets between you. So, to fix this, I believe we should do a mind-melding exercise. This one works a bit differently from the others you've done in the past, however. Instead of pushing forward your memories, this will show what you've been struggling with most recently."

Lance froze, along with the others.

"No offence, princess, but that's a major invasion of privacy." Shiro tried reasoning. Allura wouldn't have it, though.

"It wouldn't be if you would just talk to each other, but clearly that's not happening so this is what we're being forced to do. You can't allow your own problems to get in the way of Voltron."

The team argued back and forth with her, but she refused to listen.

"It's either this, or you talk to each other about your problems, but you're clearly not doing that so you are doing this, and that's final!"

They reluctantly gave in one by one, except Lance who was still frozen. Hunk gently pulled him towards the couch area of the room and sat him down.

Coran and Allura started distributing the headgear when Lance finally snapped out of it, eyes widening in alarm. He scrambled backwards and climbed over the couch, backing away from the circle.

"Lance, come on, let's just get this over with."

Frantically shaking his head, he distanced himself as Shiro made his way towards him.

"I know you don't want to do this, but none of us do. It'll be fine, you already opened up to us yesterday so it'll be fine."

At this point, Lance was beginning to hyperventilate. Hunk was looking at him with concern but the others didn't seem to notice. Something seemed to bubble up inside of him, and before he could fully process what was happening, the pipes that lined the wall burst, spraying water over everyone.

"What the hell?" Keith cursed out.

Lance tensed at the water blasting into the room. "Ah, well, I'll help you clean this up, Coran." He quickly turned to leave before Allura put an arm in front of him.

"Coran and I can do this on our own. You need to go back to the circle and do what you're supposed to do." She pushed him back into the room and crossed her arms impatiently, glaring daggers at Lance. Gulping, he backed away again.

"Please, Lance." Shiro was approaching him steadily, cornering him as if he were a frightened animal. Holding the headgear in his hand, Shiro reached out to grab him. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Lance threw his arms in front of his face and clenched his eyes shut. The murmuring in the room stopped and everything went silent, worryingly so. Prying an eye open, he saw everyone's eyes on him, frozen in shock. Amidst his panic, the water from the pipes had created a shield around him, effectively pushing Shiro away from him.

"Shit, shit, shit," Lance whispered, paling by the second. Shaking out of their shock, Shiro and Keith started steadily approaching Lance, hands extended as if trying not to frighten him. Clenching his fists, the shield froze over. This time the situation seemed to settle in and they stopped trying to approach.

Everyone was staring at him. Everyone was _staring._ They knew. Everything he had done to hide it so far was for nothing. They would _hate_ him. He was a _monster._

As he choked out a sob, the shield collapsed to the ground, shattering into fragments of ice. Shiro and Keith had to jump back to avoid being cut. Lance hadn't, though, and the ice grazed his cheek. A small bead of blood trickled out, but he was too frightened to notice the sting. As everyone struggled to process what was going on, Lance stepped back and swiftly ran out of the room.

* * *

_Everything I thought I knew_

_About me's upside down_

* * *

The room stayed silent for a while after Lance left. No one really understood what had just happened.

"What the hell was that?" Keith asked after composing himself. This seemed to shake them out of it as they all turned to look at each other.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but humans can't usually do that, can they?" Coran twirled his moustache, staring at the ice on the floor.

"Why wouldn't he tell us that?" Hunk sounded hurt that his best friend wouldn't trust him with something like this.

Pidge piped up, "I mean, it is a bit weird that he's got freaky water powers."

The group sat down on the couches whilst Coran went to fetch a broom.

"Was that why he was so scared?" Hunk asked quietly.

Keith snorted, "I doubt it, Lance would probably brag about something like that."

Everyone went silent again, not knowing what to say.

"Should we go find him? He seemed really shaken up."

Everyone nodded and split ways, frantically searching each place they could think of.

* * *

After searching for a while, they came to the conclusion that Lance was most likely in his lion. They assembled inside of the hangar, waiting outside of the particle barrier Blue had put up. Allura and Coran had stayed back, thinking it'd be best not to overcrowd him. After a few, gentle knocks, the barrier came down and they were free to enter. One by one, they climbed into the cockpit of the lion.

Lance was by the control panel, curled into a ball and sobbing heavily. It shattered their hearts to see him like that.

Hunk kneeled by him, gently putting his hands on his shoulders. "Hey, buddy. It's okay."

This seemed to make Lance sob harder if the violent shakes were anything to go by.

"It's okay, I've got you. I love you, Lance. You're my best friend, nothings going to change that." Hunk soothed, holding the crying boy in his arms.

Shiro was the next one to kneel down. "He's right, Lance. This doesn't change how we feel about you." He placed his hand against Lance and rubbed circles against his back.

After that, it was Keith. He stared at the ground, hands in his pockets. "You're still Lance, even if you can do stuff with water and aren't entirely human. I'm still the same after we found out I was part galra, it doesn't change who you are."

Lance chuckled lightly, "I'm a siren, I'm not human at all."

The others gaped a little.

"Like those fish things?"

Lance laughed, "Yeah, like those fish things."

"But they're right," Pidge piped up, "This doesn't change anything. You're still attractive, isn't that right Keith?"

"Yeah! Wait, what?"

The group laughed, apart from Keith who was glaring at Pidge. Hunk pulled Lance up.

"You wanna go back inside?"

Lance nodded slightly, wiping his tears away.

"Ah, that reminds me," Shiro started, "We've still got a birthday to celebrate."

They spent the next few hours messing around. They danced, ate and talked late into the evening. Even Allura and Coran joined after being dragged onto the floor. Pidge acted as DJ whilst the others twirled around the room and, after much persuasion, Lance managed to convince Keith to dance with him. If they were both blushing furiously throughout, no one commented.

At the end of the evening, everyone collapsed onto the couches and Coran brought in blankets and pillows. They built a handful of pillow forts, before ultimately knocking them down during the pillow fights. As Lance lay there, surrounded by the heavy breathing of his friends as they dozed off, he knew he'd be okay.

* * *

_Everything is changing but_

_I think I love it now_

* * *

Lance was lying on the couch, back against the armrest and legs propped onto Hunk, who was flicking through a magazine. Lance held the racket he had found the other day in his hand and had been pinging the ball back and forth for the past half hour. Pidge was playing a video game with Keith, whilst Shiro watched.

"Hey, Lance." Hunk started.

"Hm?"

"Why did you make me forget about you being a siren? I could've kept it a secret, you know."

Humming, Lance stopped playing with the racket.

"I wasn't meant to tell anyone about it. Last time someone found out it went badly, so I guess I just panicked." Tilting his head, he glanced at the others who were still fully focused on the game.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"My twin sister, Isabel, told her friends about us."

Hunk paused, looking down at Lance, "I didn't know you have a twin."

He laughed, "Had. We don't talk about her anymore."

The atmosphere became more uncomfortable, Hunk watching and waiting to see if Lance would continue.

"Her friends bullied her till she hated us. One day she came home and lashed out at us, then she ran away. I didn't see her again after that."

Staring blankly at the ceiling, his smile faded. "About a year later I found her body. I guess a fisherman mistook her for a fish, there was a harpoon gun in her side."

The room went silent, and the others paled. Lance hadn't realised that everyone was listening.

Hunk bit his lip, "How old were you?"

"Twelve when she left, thirteen when I found her." He let out a mixture of a laugh and a sob.

Pidge paused the game and everyone gathered around Lance.

"I can't imagine how hard that must've been," Shiro said quietly, looking down at him sympathetically

Lance's head lulled to the side, avoiding eye contact, "You get used to it."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Lance gently smiled up at Hunk, sitting up.

"Yeah, it wasn't good. No one wanted to talk about what had happened. They'd rather pretend Isabel never existed, and it sucked."

Hunk snaked an arm around Lance, pulling him into a hug. The Cuban boy shook slightly as he sobbed, and the other wrapped their arms around him.

The group hug lasted for several more minutes until Lance's sobs came to a stop. They lightly pulled away and he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.

"You know, I don't think I've ever shown you my siren form." He grinned up the faces around him, eyes still slightly puffy. The group smiled at him as he got up, dragging them to the swimming pool.

"I'll warn you, I'm irresistible," He winked at the group, "But maybe don't look, cause I do need to strip."

As he said this, they immediately turned around and Lance laughed at the blushes. Swiftly tugging off his clothes, he dived underwater and let his legs turn into a tail.

A few moments later, he leaned against the edge of the pool and waited for them to turn around. Shiro turned first. His eyes went wide - like he hadn't fully understood what being a siren meant till this very moment. Pidge and Hunk looked at him in awe, and Keith went bright red.

Lance smirked at this, "Like what you see?" He called out to Keith, laughing as he started spluttering.

It would be a lie if Keith denied it. It was hard not to think Lance looked beautiful, though. His tail was made up of shimmering scales that reminded them all of the ocean. Not to mention his hair was lazily swept to the side.

Keith cleared his throat, "I've seen better."

Lance scoffed, leaning his head against his palm, "Mhm, okay."

Pidge tilted their head slightly whilst examining his tail. "So that's what this was," They pulled out one of Lance's scales from their pocket, "I found it on the bathroom floor yesterday." As they passed it round to the others, they looked down at Lance. "Can I take the ones in the bathroom to examine?"

He nodded and went to float on his back. Perking up, he asked, "Hey, why don't you guys join me?"

And so that's what they did. Everyone changed into their swimming costumes and dived in to join him. It might not have been his family, but Lance was happy. He was surrounded by people he cared about and who cared about him - and he loved them all to bits. He wouldn't give this up for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Cool! I hope you enjoyed :D
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. It makes me happy to see you like what I write ^.^


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